Versatile Aussie E-Motorcycle Seeks Speed Record

Post updated with additional info and video at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Most land speed racers are purpose-built vehicles with little other utility. But an Australian motorcycle builder hopes to top 200 mph with a wild electric bike that’s ready for the track and the lakebed.

Configured for land speed racing, Catavolt features four motors mounted on the swing arm; they draw juice from a lithium-ion battery pack. Racing in the TTXGP grand prix is as simple as swapping the swing arm, intalling a hub motor and hooking up the battery, a task team boss Jon Eggenhuizen says takes only a weekend.

That versatility came in handy when Australia’s Speed Week was canceled because the venue flooded.

“The dry lake wasn’t so dry,” said Eggenhuizen. “All the roads and the lake its self were flooded by a freak storm. Unfortunately mother nature tells us if we are able to race or not!”

Taking it all in stride, the team made plans to compete in a different event.

“When the event was canceled we removed the swing arm with the four motors and fitted a hub motor to the same bike and entered the TTXGP,” Eggenhuizen said.

This year’s Speed Week was a wash, but the team set a land speed record at last year’s event. Running an electric bike powered by a 72-volt forklift motor, Curtiss controller and Odyssey lead-acid batteries bolted to a Suzuki GS 250 frame and wrapped in Aprilia bodywork, the team achieved 177 km/hr (110 mph).

This year’s machine is purpose-built for the salt and the track. It’s a labor of love for Eggenhuizen, who works on the bike along with other members of the Australian EV Association.

“Since we are not a large company and do all this on our own time and costs, alongside our knowledge, a lot of trial and error goes into our work, as there are not a lot of designs to learn from,” he said.

Configured for land speed racing, the bike sports four Mars motors with a peak output of 70 kilowatts apiece, though Eggenhuizen says they’re configured to deliver 40. Juice comes from a massive pack comprised of 294 lithium-ion cells, each putting out 3.2 volts. A pair of Kelly controllers manages it all. It’s all bolted to a Daelim frame.

When it’s time to hit the track, the team fits a conventional swingarm and ditches the Mars motors for an air-cooled EnerTrack hub motor fixed to a billet rear wheel.

Eggenhuizen claims the bike is good for 150 kilowatts — just over 200 horsepower — on the dyno. That’s well short of the 240 ponies put down by the bike Chip Yates rode at 190.6 mph to achieve the current unofficial land speed record for an electric motorcycle.

The eFXC/TTXGP (and yes, that’s a whole ‘lotta acronym) Australian Superbike Championship had a test session in May; the season kicks off this weekend at Eastern Creek International Raceway in New South Wales. It’s the first of three races Down Under.

“After the TTXGP season is completed, we are aiming to sell a similar version of the track bike to the public,” Eggenhuizen said. “We also can create hybrid bikes.”

He expects the road-going bikes to run about $15,000 and says they’ll be as exciting as anything else on two wheels.

“Each time we build we aim to improve and impress to others how an electric motorbike can be as powerful and exciting as the petrol,” he says.